Introduction

Tablets are killing netbooks, pundits say, and all gadget makers are jumping on the bandwagon. LG, it seemed, were in no particular hurry but now that their Optimus Pad is here, it shows they mean business. The 8.9" tablet is powered by Tegra 2 and adds a bit of stereoscopic 3D for a dash of excitement.

LG Optimus Pad official shots

On paper, the LG Optimus Pad is a beast. Other tablets lose out on quite a few specs. The Optimus Pad is powered by NVIDIA's Tegra 2 chipset, which is the norm for droid tablets, as is Android Honeycomb.

Also, a standard miniHDMI port will sure save some adapter-related headaches. There's USB On-The-Go too, with a cable for that and a miniHDMI cable both included in the bundle. The LG Optimus Pad has the richest tablet package we've seen yet.

So, the Optimus Pad has a few more tricks than your average tablet. Here's the summary, along with the downsides.

Main disadvantages

Quite expensive

Camera can't shoot 3D stills

Non-replaceable battery

No microSD card slot

Screen is regular 2D, 3D viewing with anaglyph glasses

No DivX/XviD support

No telephony

The Optimus Pad and Optimus 3D are leading LG's charge into mobile stereoscopic imaging. Unlike the phone however, the Pad doesnít have a goggle-free screen - it uses anaglyph glasses (unfortunately, there arenít any to be found in the box), which spoils the viewing experience somewhat.

On the upside, the Optimus Pad is capable of playing 3D over HDMI, which can quickly turn it into your 3D movie player of choice. And if you don't have a 3D TV, you can use the same anaglyph glasses you use with the Pad itself.

LG Optimus Pad visits our office

Up next on the Optimus Pad channel is unboxing, followed by The Screen Show and General hardware overview, Season 2.